The History of the Ford Mustang's Pony Car
The Ford Mustang bring backs many memories for their owners of cruising on a Friday night. The history of the Mustang is fascinating as it forever changed the look of the American sports car.
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History
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In 1961, Lee Iacocca was the general manager and head of the Ford division. He had a vision to create a small sporty car for an affordable price to take advantage of the baby boomer consumer market. That vision was the Ford Mustang also known as the pony car. Originally the car was named after the P-51 Mustang fighter plane, but people made associations of the name "Mustang" with the horse and the horse design stuck. The first Ford Mustangs were sold on April 16, 1964 with sales of 22,000 on the first day.
Types
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In 1965 Carroll Shelby collaborated with Ford to produce the Shelby GT-350 Mustang. In 1967, Ford came out with the Mustang Fastback in order to compete with Chevy's new Camaro SS. In late 1969, the Ford Mustang got another overhaul with the release of the Mustang Boss 469. This was Ford's answer to compete with the Chevy's Camaro Z-28. The NZ Mustang website states that the Mustang Boss 469 is one of the most highly sought after Mustang pony cars by car collectors. Ford is re-releasing the Ford Mustang Boss in 2012.
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Falcon Connection
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Originally, Mustangs were built based on the Ford Falcon chassis and parts. This was done to get the car produced cost efficiently and quickly. It was not until 1974 that the Ford Mustang stopped being produced with the Ford Falcon parts.
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References
- Photo Credit red hot mustang image by Leticia Wilson from Fotolia.com
